The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
Satellite television is increasing in popularity due to the ever-increasing amount of programming as well as the quality of programming. Programming includes standard national broadcasts, local or regional station broadcasts, on-demand content and interactive content. Programming services may be ordered by subscription or pay-per-view.
Impulse pay-per-view occurs when a customer selects to purchase content directly from the user device, such as a set top box, in response to a menu or other prompt. The program is authorized for viewing by the set-top-box, and the impulse pay-per-view selection is communicated from the set-top-box to a billing system for billing the customer the appropriate amount. Another type of pay-per-view system is order-ahead pay-per-view. Order-ahead pay-per-view occurs when a customer selects to purchase using a customer-service agent, a website, a web-based cell phone, or interactive voice menu system. The order-ahead pay-per-view selection is communicated to the billing system for billing the customer the appropriate amount, and the viewing authorization is communicated to the set-top-box. Both impulse pay-per-view and order-ahead pay-per-view may be provided in a single system.
The service provider may communicate real-time content to all users at a specific scheduled time for live viewing or for recording by a DVR for later viewing. This is referred to as linear content. The service provider may also communicate non-real-time content that is faster or slower than normal program viewing. Such transmission is not intended for live viewing but is only intended for recording by a DVR for later viewing. This is referred to as non-linear content. The non-linear content may be provided at different rates and at different times as well. A pre-set broadcast schedule is not published, but the non-linear content may be recorded when a customer selects to record the content from a published list of available programs. This selection may be made from a user device, such as a set top box, or from a website or a web-based cell phone. Non-linear content may also be recorded to the DVR by the service-provider without prior user request. Non-linear content may also be recorded on-demand over the internet.
Linear content may be purchased by IPPV or OPPV for live viewing at the scheduled broadcast time. Linear and non-linear content may purchased by IPPV or OPPV for viewing recorded content. Typically, the user may not recognize whether a recording was based on a linear or non-linear content. One problem with such a configuration is that if one type of content format is purchased, viewing of the same content in a different format type would require another purchase in another format. Likewise, when one content is in a different definitional format, such as high-definition versus standard definition, access to the standard definition content may not be obtained without purchase when high-definition content has already been paid for.